Editing Lewis Milestone (section)

===''Pork Chop Hill'' (1959)===

According to Millichap (1981), ''[[Pork Chop Hill (film)|Pork Chop Hill]]'' (1959), which was produced by [[Sy Bartlett]] for the Melville Company, represents the third work in "an informal war trilogy", along with ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1930) and ''A Walk in the Sun'' (1945).<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 178: "might well rank with A Walk in the Sun" and p. 179: "perhaps recalls the antiwar attitudes in ''All Quiet on the Western Front''"</ref><ref>McGee, 2003 TCM: "He would later turn his attention to the spectacle of war and the cohesiveness of men in battle in both ''A Walk in the Sun'' (1945) and ''Pork Chop Hill'', which form an informal war trilogy with ''All Quiet on the Western Front''."</ref> The film is based on a recounting a [[Battle of Pork Chop Hill|Korean War battle]] by combat veteran [[S. L. A. Marshall]] and a screenplay by [[James R. Webb]]. According to Millichap (1981), Milestone was provided with a realistic literary platform from which to develop his final cinematic treatment of men at war.<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 179</ref>

The film's plot involves a strategically pointless assault by a company of U.S. infantrymen to secure and defend a nondescript hill against a much larger Chinese battalion.<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 179: "The general staff feels they must respond to this challenge or lose ground at the truce table."</ref> According to Canham (1974), the plot involves "The story of a battle for a strategic point of little military value, but of great moral value, during the last days of the Korean War".<ref>Canham, 1974 p. 117<br />McGee, 2003: "It takes place during the final hours of peace negotiations between Korea and the U.S. and recounts the capture of Pork Chop Hill by American troops, an action ordered only to demonstrate to Communist negotiators that the U.S. would continue to fight if an agreement was not reached."<br />Millichap, 1981 p. 179: "Pork Chop Hill perhaps recalls the antiwar attitudes of [Milestone's] ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' more fully than any of his World War II movies."</ref>

Milestone, and actor and financial investor in the project [[Gregory Peck]], who plays company commander Lieutenant Joe Clemons, argued over the presentation of the film's themes. Rather than emphasize the pointlessness of the military operation, Peck favored a more politicized message, equating the taking of ''Pork Chop Hill'' as an equivalent to the battles of [[Battle of Bunker Hill|Bunker Hill]] and [[Battle of Gettysburg|Gettysburg]].<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 180: "Peck's voice-over at the film's conclusion the iconic battles, whereas Milestone had lacked this dimension, referring only to the troops: "the men who fought here know what they did and the meaning of it."</ref><ref>Canham, 1974 p. 103: "Gregory Peck{{nbsp}}... played a major role in the production of the film"</ref> According to McGee (2003) the studio's final edit of the director's cut blunted Milestone message concerning the futility of war, perhaps his most anti-war statement since ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1930).<ref>McGee, 2003 TCM: "The release version of ''Pork Chop Hill'' differed from Milestone's original conception. The film originally was to cut between the peace talks and the action of holding the hill but that idea was scrapped."</ref><ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 179: "Milestone seems to say that the lesson of ''Pork Chop Hill'' was the futility of war{{nbsp}}... However, the changes made to the director's version [by the studio] weaken the harsh irony of this message."</ref> According to Millichap (1981):<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 178: "Peck was one of the movie's [financial] backers and thus exercised a great deal of control over the production{{nbsp}}... it seems that Peck, more than anyone else interfered with Milestone's artistic vision in Pork Chop Hill."</ref>

{{blockquote |It was Peck's conception of the part which doomed Milestone's vision; Peck converted the role into a more or less standard superman of World War II vintage{{nbsp}}... and also cut much of Milestone's careful development of other characters, his artistic counterpointing of the opposing forces, and his bitterly ironic conclusion.{{clarify|reason="Which source does this quotation come from?"|date=July 2023}}<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 178: "the strongest of Milestone's late films [and] without the studio interference{{nbsp}}... make{{clarify|reason="may"?|date=May 2023}} rank well with ''A Walk in the Sun'' (1945)."</ref><ref>Canham, 1974 pp. 103&ndash;104: "the released version differed from Milestone's original conception{{nbsp}}... he had intended to include much more cross-cutting between the [battlefield] action of holding the hill and peace talks that were going on as the action played out{{nbsp}}... [and] about men fighting blindly for objectives without being aware of the point of their actions or the strategy that lay behind it, but he was not able to have his own way."</ref>}}

Milestone distanced himself from the final cut of the film, saying, "Pork Chop Hill became a film I am not proud of{{nbsp}}... [merely] one more war movie".<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 180: Millichap's footnote for this remark cites a 1959 interview with "Dale Mackey", publication undisclosed.</ref> In addition to Peck, Milestone cast primarily unknown actors as the officers and the rank-and-file characters, among them [[Woody Strode]], [[Harry Guardino]], [[Robert Blake (actor)|Robert Blake]] in his first adult role, [[George Peppard]], [[Norman Fell]], [[Abel Fernandez]], [[Gavin MacLeod]], [[Harry Dean Stanton]], and [[Clarence Williams III]].<ref>McGee, 2003 TCM: "Told with a hard-nosed style of harsh realism and fluid action, the film stars Gregory Peck and a bevy of up-and-coming actors, such as George Peppard, Martin Landau, Rip Torn, Harry Guardino, Harry Dean Stanton, Robert Blake, and Woody Strode".</ref><ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 179: The company of men "represent the various types found in American war films{{nbsp}}... [[Harry Guardino]], [[George Shibata]], [[James Edwards (actor)|James Edwards]], [[Woody Strode]], [[Rip Torn]], [[George Peppard]], and Robert Blake in his first adult role."</ref>